1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a slide module, and more particularly to a slide module installed in a slide type electronic device to enable an upper housing to slide on a lower housing.
2. The Related Art
Recently, a lot of portable electronic devices such as portable phones have become popular in our society. Various types of portable electronic devices such as, a bar type, a flip type, a folder type, etc. are manufactured to satisfy different people.
A bar type electronic device, since its keypad is exposed, can easily be damaged or the keypad can be pressed by mistake. A flip type electronic device is introduced to solve the problem by a provided flip to protect the keypad. However, it still remains the same problem, which the bar type electronic device has, that the housing size of the electronic device itself is too long to carry conveniently. Further, the flip type electronic device fails to satisfy the demand for a larger display screen in order to review the data from Internet access.
Thus, a folder type electronic device has been introduced to shorten the length of the main body. However, the hinges that connect an upper folder and a lower folder can easily be damaged because these folders have to be opened and closed repeatedly.
Therefore, a slide type electronic device has been proposed for solving the above problem.
A conventional slide type electronic device includes a slide module. The slide module disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,973,186 issued Dec. 6, 2005 includes a slide member, a support plate which is fixed to an upper housing of the electronic device for supporting the slide member, and a guide plate which supports the slide member together with the support plate. The guide plate has a guide hole formed therein to guide the slide member to slide. Furthermore, the slide member includes two sleeves for combining itself with a lower housing of the electronic device and enabling the upper housing to slide over the lower housing.
However, the conventional slide module as described above is not exquisite enough. In another word, the sliding operation between the slide member and the support plate is not smooth enough. That may shorten the using life of the slide module.